Dear Father,

Here we are ever so slightly further through our line of enquiries than we were last time I wrote. Most recently we have returned to Balder’s Gate from Castlekeep and discovered even more of the inherent evilness of “humanity”. It was while combating a vile splinter cell of the local guild when Gregg, my barbarian travelling companion and friend managed to solve the puzzle key that has been causing Athon and myself so much trouble over the last few weeks. I suppose sometimes these things are just a matter of strength, endurance, and the appreciative smile of the Goddess. Anyway, we dispatched the traitors and decided after a long restful night we would go looking for the fabled Wizard’s Tower which lies beneath the city somewhere.

During the night my rest was disturbed by a most intriguing creature and through discussion and charm a number of facts/rumours were shared by both sides. My campaign to discredit the sneak Devlin continues and I’ve asked this creature to help in that regard as it is believed that he and the traitorous guild are in league. It is possible though not proven that the metal man is more leader than dupe in these endeavours but, until we have more information it is hard to undertake a proper investigation. We are doing what we can but, as Aradon was the only one with any previous knowledge of this type of work it has been hard. I will speak to him upon our return from this tower and see if he has any strategies he can suggest to us.

Anyway, the sun reared its bright and ugly head and we set off to the Necropolis to find the Tomb of Doctor Talos and the entrance to the Wizard’s Tower.

When we arrived it appeared that others had already investigated the Tomb and the door had been jammed shut to keep out further intrusions. Garad was busy inspecting the door to figure out the best way of opening it when Gregg decided that with all doors the best way to open this one was to bash it with his head at top speed and charged in. Unfortunately, he tripped over the edge of my cloak on the way past and did not get as solid a strike against the door as he normally would have. Eventually, though he and Garad managed to open the door into the darkness.

Revealed within was a set of stairs which we duly descended and descended. Between the stairs and the sloping corridors between we quickly realised that we were far deeper underground than any normal crypt and had gone outside the above ground boundaries of the Necropolis. Eventually, we came upon a another closed door. Gregg again took up the initiative and screaming out “There it is” charged at the door. After bouncing off yet another door Gregg got a look in his eye which suggested that he had happened upon an idea. He casually reached into his backpack and pulled out the puzzle key he had recently solved in the sewers. He touched the key against the door and it opened to reveal… yet more stairs.

We descended these stairs as well and began to feel a faint breeze blowing which suggested that we had now entered an area that had an unsealed exit somewhere else.

Not feeling particularly stealthy Gregg, Athon, and myself quickly formed a front rank and marched on into the dark.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs my heart sank as the first thing I saw in my field of vision was a swarm of Rot Scarabs, the very same beasts that had killed Aradon. The swarm was accompanied by two vampires, which immediately made me look askew at Gregg, just in case we were going to have to guard against our friend as well as the enemies in the room. Thankfully, Athon’s arcane knowledge and my knowledge of religion revealed these vampires did not have the power to subsume our Barbarian friends will. Garad immediately led a charge into the room to confront one of the vampires and we all gasped as it was also revealed that two Zombie hulks were within. Garad was able to circle the predators about the vampire and hit it with a dagger. I immediately blessed my weapon and the rest of us joined the fray.

After a hard fought battle in which we all expended far more energy than we could probably have afforded we decided it was probably a good idea to take a short rest. Gregg set about making a helmet/hood thing from one of the Zombie Hulk heads and I did my best to tend to the wounded. Garad found an item of power, a belt I believe it was which will hopefully provide him with extra standing power in any similar battles and make him slightly less reliant on my limited healing abilities.

We set off even further downhill and with Garad and myself in front came across a rather small room with tubes in the opposite corners. Obviously, a trap and based on the scorch marks around the tubes on associated with fire. While Garad and I discussed the best way to disarm the traps Gregg decided that he was bored and the best way to get through this 20 foot room was to just take a running start and jump. Unfortunately, Belgarath’s staff was this time responsible for the barbarian’s stumble and he landed just enough weight on the last stone to set off the trap and scorch himself something fierce.

Gregg extricated himself from the room having given Garad and I a better idea of how the trap worked.

The two of us rushed in and disarmed the traps.. well Garad disarmed his and I set mine off. I think it may be time to start practicing my skills again as I seem to have gotten very rusty since leaving Loudwater. Anyway, Garad was just about to disarm mine as well when a half hearted comment by myself inspired Belgarath to rush into the room and attempt to clog the tube with bits of metal. Unfortunately, this foray simply served to set the trap off and the room filled with fire yet again. Long story short Garad eventually disarmed the second trap and after we’d all taken a deep breath we set out down the corridor. A corridor which very quickly led us to a room occupied by a Vampire Muse and her lackeys. Gregg slowly turned towards us with a gleam in his eye and his hands ever tightening around the handle of his axe…